Joe Biden does Kentucky
By Lisa Fabrizio
web posted November 14, 2005
In a week that saw a spate of anti-Catholic rumination by the
media on the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court,
others in the political spectrum were also concerned with
religious issues. In their continuing confusion regarding these
matters, some Democrats seek to placate the faithful, while
others look to eliminate religion from the public sphere
altogether.
One of the former is 2008 White House hopeful Senator Joseph
Biden. The Delaware Democrat--whose presidential run in 1987
was tripped up by plagiary charges--recently took to the hustings
of Kentucky to convince voters there that he really was one of
them. In a state where President Bush beat John Kerry by
twenty points in 2004, Biden acknowledged the problem:
“We have put up too many candidates who can't connect with
middle-class Americans. In the last two (presidential elections),
the Democratic Party has lost its base, the middle-class votes. ...
And we have played into the hands of the Republicans. We've
allowed so-called social issues to be so divisive."
Religion is one of the issues that divides liberals from folks in red
states like Kentucky . Once a dependable part of the ‘Solid
South’ that voted exclusively for Democrats, it’s now a
Republican stronghold. Part of the reason is that Kentuckians,
like most Americans, take their religion seriously.
And in a state that is overwhelmingly Christian, including over
half a million Catholics, you’d think Biden would stay away from
comments like, "If I'm the nominee, Republicans will be sorry.
The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to
shove my rosary beads down their throat."
Mr. Biden’s charming and reverent reference to his Marian
devotion aside, his comments illustrate the anger and
bewilderment many in his party feel toward the ‘religious right’.
The secular left simply doesn’t comprehend that it takes more
than just a politician’s profession of faith to win the votes of
those for whom religion is not merely a so-called social issue.
Biden, like many Catholic politicians, tries to separate his religion
from his job. And as any Christian knows, this is not an option; if
the two are in conflict, you have to renounce one or the other.
Biden actually alluded to this last year in referring to some
Republicans as “a little like me as a Roman Catholic denying the
existence of the Trinity. It is not possible to do.”
What he does find possible however, is to deny other basic
precepts of the Code of Canon Law of his religion, such as
unalterable opposition to abortion, euthanasia and same-sex
marriage; the last of which he calls “inevitable.” He continues,
“It’s going to be something we have to go through as part of the
maturation process of the nation.”
Last year, Biden and his liberal brethren tried to pooh-pooh the
abortion issue by claiming they voted ‘Catholic’ on issues like the
death penalty, immigration, gun-control and increasing the
minimum wage; none of which are covered by Canon Law. Said
Dick Durbin with a straight face, "Unfortunately, recent media
attention has focused on one or two priorities of the Catholic
Church, while obscuring others."
It seems all wings of the Democratic Party--while still officially
endorsing the practice of killing infants in the womb--wish the
word ‘abortion’ would simply disappear. Interviewer Chris
Matthews was amazed last week when DNC Chairman Howard
Dean even balked at uttering the politically-correct term ‘pro-
choice’: “Now, you're getting hesitant on the war and hesitant on
abortion rights. It's very hard to get clarity from your party.”
After seven attempts by Matthews to clarify the party’s position
on abortion, what was Dean’s final response? “A woman and a
family have a right to make up their own minds about their health
care without government interference. That's our position.”
Abortion as health-care and same-sex marriage as a maturation
process. These are precisely the types of euphemistic deceptions
that only widen the gap between Democrats and voters
concerned with so-called social issues.
Meanwhile, back in Kentucky, State Senator and former
Democrat Governor Julian Carroll bravely maintained, "If we
define who we are, the middle class will vote Democratic again."
They’d better start saying their prayers.
Lisa Fabrizio is a columnist who hails from Connecticut . You
may write her at mailbox@lisafab.com.
Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com